JINAN, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Sixteen sailors on a cargo
vessel registered in the Republic of Korea are missing when it sank off east
China due to collision with a ship run by a Chinese company, rescuers said on
Saturday.

The ROK vessel, "Golden Rose", sank on the sea near
Yantai, east China's Shandong Province after it collided around 3 a.m. Saturday
with Saint Vincent-registered "Jinsheng", a ship run by Shandong Lufeng Shipping
Company Ltd.

Chinese rescuers have found two life rafts and some
wrecked articles confirmed to be left by the "Golden Rose". They believed the
vessel had sunk with its 16 sailors aboard missing.

Rescue vessels and helicopters from Shandong maritime
bureaus and Dalian are still searching the missing at the site.

The "Golden Rose" loaded with 59 million tons of
steel, was heading from Liaoning to ROK. The container ship "Jinsheng was
heading from Yantai to Dalian.